“The Mad King is dead!” 

 

The old decrepit tavern went dead silent for a few seconds, A few men just stared with skepticism.

 

One of the men hopelessly laughed,”Aha buddy you'd be a good jester”

 

“Oh? Yeah, good joke, buddy. Look who's laughing” One of the men in the bar said in a sarcastic tone.

 

“N-no! I’m being serious, the Mad King is dead!” people just continued to glare

 

After a few minutes the men turned back to their food and drink. 

 

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………

 

“The Mad King” - that's what people called Palton Radana, he was a king who was hated by not only many of his own citizens but also his own family.

 

Radana was a man of 47 years of age, He had long well kept red hair and a long t red beard to match,His eyes had the look of a wise old ruler whilst also at the same time always containing seething hatred. He was a man of large stature standing at 6’5 inches tall but had the build of a minotaur with his bulging muscles and fair skin.

 

He would do anything to keep power; he once even executed his own wife because she “seemed suspicious”.

 

He only ever trusted a few people in his life and one of those was his Financial Minister Hon Strana.

 

Hon Strana was a person who had a very lib tongue. He knew the right things to say to the right people, that was why he was able to gain the trust of “the Mad King” over the last few years. Although in actuality, he hated Palton.

 

Palton had long forgotten their names. Since he had executed so many people, he didn't bother memorising them. 

“Ah... friend, it truly is a magnificent day, is it not?” Palton said while staring at the scene of many people being executed.

 

“They deserve to die, your Majesty, they were traitors,” Strana said with no hint of remorse for the people who were being executed.

 

“Strana, you are correct about that. Palton said while grinning at Hon Strana.

 

Palton looked down in glee at the executions that were taking place. “Oohhhh look they are using the new tools I ordered!”

 

The date was the 26th of March 1011 of the Authorian Calendar, that day 125 people were executed for allowing a spy past the border of the Kingdom of Hanada.

 

The river next to the city of Agnis was run rampant with the colour of blood, the corpses of the people who were executed were thrown into the river to symbolise what would happen to ‘traitors’.

 

‘I can’t believe another 125 people were executed today, I must somehow dispose of the Mad King’ Strana thought while taking a bath in his private suite. 

 

‘This bastard has been in power for long enough. Even though he was once not mad over the last 2 decades, he has only brought chaos to Radana, if only there was someone who could take over the throne if he was to be assassinated…

 

“Ah. That's right, his bastard son could take over the throne, although he is a bastard he’s the last of the Radana bloodline” Strana whispered this to himself while washing his hair and brown beard.

 

‘The mad king’ had executed the rest of the Radana dynasty because he was worried that they would try and seize power from him. The only reason he left his son alive was because he was a bastard, which would usually mean he could not obtain the right to the throne. 

 

Strana exited the bath and looked in the mirror. As usual, he saw his own face, the face that had done many different terrible actions, the face that had followed the orders of that so-called ‘King’ for the last 10 years, and the face that would finally correct his ways.

 

Strana was a man of 35 years of age, he had long brown hair and had two dark brown eyes. He was a man of average stature at just over 5 feet and 8 inches tall and was a rather slim man, weighing just 135 pounds.

 

‘Status’ Strana said these words in his head and a box containing information about him appeared.

 

Status is a type of magic which comes from having a magic device implanted into them called the ‘status checker’ this device allows the person who has it implanted to see their own skills and other information about themselves. This information is a secret from others.

Age: 35

Skills: Lib Tongue A+ (This passive skill affects the user and influences them in situations), Everyday magic C+, Swordsmanship C, Financial skills A-, Administrative skills C+

Aura: None 

Affinity: None 

His usual status greeted him but this time his Lib Tongue skill had gone up a subrank, ‘Heh, guess all the bullshit I spout is good for something’

 

After finishing drying himself off, Strana sat down at his desk and grabbed a quill and a piece of paper. He started writing a letter and after he was finished writing his letter he got an envelope, put the piece of paper inside, and then put the Royal stamp on it.

 

“Hay Gully get over here for a second” Strana called over to his pigeon friend

 

“Gully, I need you to get this letter to Erwin Radana, can you do that?” Strana said to his delivery pigeon Gully. Gully nodded back as if he understood what was being said and Strana put the letter into the tube on the back of the pigeon.  

 

“Now go, and don’t let anyone see you” The pigeon then started to fly away from the balcony and soon Strana lost sight of the pigeon.

 

‘If I’m going to bring down the Mad King then I'm going to have to get in touch with his son Erwin Radana’

 

Strana led down on his bed and started to reminisce about the past, ”If only Palton didn’t have that head injury from 20 years ago...” These were Strana’s last thoughts before he drifted off to sleep. 

 

…………………………………………………………………………………………………..

 

The Mad King wasn't always the Mad King; for a time he was a rather wise King, however that period was a short lived period.

 

Six months after taking over as King, Palton suffered a serious fall. He fell from the second floor balcony onto the grass of the Royal Garden. He fell head first from the second floor balcony. Although he did not die, he did suffer a few broken bones and most noticeably he had hurt his head really badly.

 

Although his broken bones healed within a matter of weeks thanks to the use of healing magic from the priests of the nation,nothing could be done about the mental damage that he had incurred since healing magic was not the nation's specialty only a few priests had it and the effect was not all that strong. Although they could have bought some 3rd tier potions the acting regent for Palton while he was recovering decided not too since the nations finances were already quite a mess from the lavish spending of the previous king.

 

Everything had seemed fine for a few months before he started to change, he became more brutal towards people and his trust towards people had fallen dramatically.

 

Palton started trusting people much less and Palton became very paranoid that everyone close to him was trying to assassinate him.

 

Many people close to Palton thought he became paranoid due to the mental damage he had gained thanks to the fall. However, this was not the case.

 

Palton became paranoid because his own brother had pushed him off the balcony. His brother, Hallan Radana, was supposed to be the original heir to the Radana throne, however Palton had displayed extreme intelligence during his youth which caused Palton and Hallan’s father to pick Palton over Hallan.

 

Hallan had been scheming for many months prior to pushing his own brother off the balcony, however they were thwarted by guards and even Palton himself a few times. 

 

However, due to Palton being a trusting person, he forgave his brother and that caused Hallan to despise and envy Palton even more. 

 

One year after falling from the balcony, Radana framed his brother for murder and had him executed on the spot with his wife and two sons... This was the start of the Mad King.

 

After the execution of his brother Palton started to show his true colours,first he executed anyone he deemed to be traitors and after that he banned any and all voting towards any policy changes by the council of red. Palton turned the nation of Radana into an absolute monarchy.

 

…………………………………………………………………………………………………..

 

Strana awoke the next day to the rising sun of the Saifey continent, ’I wonder if that letter made it to Erwin or not’ Strana said this in his head as he began his regular morning routine of styling his beard and cleaning his body.

 

Usually in Royal Palaces there would be servants who would do these types of jobs. However, Palton only trusted a few people so he only let those he trusted stay in the Palace, since he was worried of someone assassinating him somehow.

 

Strana walked out of his room to the sight of Palton at his door, ’Oh, great... What does he want now?’.

 

“Ah hello,my liege, how can I help you on this beautiful morning?” Strana said this in a polite manner while looking Palton in the eyes.

“Ssshhh  I fear we may have a traitor within our ranks here in the Royal Palace!” Palton whispered this to Strana while having a very serious look on his face. 

 

Strana’s heart started to beat very quickly and numerous thoughts started to circulate within his mind, ’How did he find out?!’ ‘Does he suspect me?!’ ‘Did the message get to Erwin Radana?!’. All these thoughts and more were rapidly circulating in his mind.

 

“Why do you think that your majesty?” Strana said this while trying not to show any deviation in his emotions. 

 

Palton chuckled while showing a dead pigeon in his hand “This pigeon was coming back from a flight from somewhere, however it was not scheduled to leave”

 

Palton showed Strana the dead pigeon. The dead pigeon in Palton’s hand was none other than Gully, Strana’s pigeon. There were scorch marks on the pigeon but the pigeon had died peacefully as if knowing it would die that day.

 

Strana felt anger welling up inside of him; this was another life that Palton had taken from Strana. “This pigeon...seems oddly familiar my friend...Is this pigeon yours Strana?.” Palton reluctantly said he did not want to say this since it would indicate that Strana had sent an unscheduled message which Strana had never done before and would indicate that he was a traitor.

 

“Y-yes that is my pigeon, Palton... Someone must have taken him from me when I wasn't looking to place the blame on me." Strana said this while trying to avoid eye contact with Palton.

 

Palton had the ability to tell if someone was lying or telling the truth by looking into their eyes, this was due to his aura which he had acquired after he had fallen off the second floor balcony 20 years ago.

 

“Strana! Look me in the eyes and tell me that it was not you, this is the only way to prove your innocence, do you understand?” Palton said this with a stern expression he could not believe that the person he had trusted the most over the last few years would betray him.

 

Strana looked into Palton’s eyes, ”I am telling the truth” Strana said this with the most confident expression that Strana had ever shown Palton.

 

“Tsk” ‘the mad king shakes his head back and forth while deliberating on what to do with Strana.

 

“What's wrong, Palton? Angry that I was telling the truth and that I didn't actually betray you?” Strana said this nonchalantly thinking that he had gotten himself clear of any suspicion.

 

“Strana, why oh why did you have to betray me?” Palton said this with a very serious and angry expression on his face. Palton had not told anyone about his aura, not even Strana; this was because his trust for anyone was still low even after 20 years.

 

“W-what do you mean? Palton I-I'm telling the truth.” Strana was now shaking, he had never thought that his acting would get seen through. 

 

“Strana, I will not reveal how I know you are lying but what I will do is offer you this, duel me. If you win, you are free to leave but you must leave this country, otherwise I'll hunt you down, but if you lose I will kill you and throw you into the ‘blood river’”

 

The Ze river was called the ‘blood river’ for all the blood that flowed down the river from the executions that took place over the last 20 years.

 

“I-I...Accept your duel, Palton” Strana had a dismayed look on his face. He knew he wasn't a very strong warrior and with Palton being one of the best warriors within the nation he had almost no chance of winning.

 

“Knight! Bring this traitor down to the courtyard.” Palton called for the only guard in the palace, Alex. Alex was a rather fearsome guard. Being a former adventurer, he knew how to fight well.

 

“Yes, Sir” Alex started to drag Strana by his neck down to the courtyard. Strana tried to resist, however he didn’t have the strength to resist this ex-B-rank adventurer.

 

Alex threw Strana onto the ground, leaving him with a small bruise on his face. Alex backed away from the courtyard and returned to his original guard post. 

 

Strana got up off the ground and saw Palton idly waiting with his 2 swords also known as the ‘son and daughter’ swords since they were a pair of swords that, when used together, boosted the user's combat skills by 1 sub rank.

 

“Strana, out of everyone here, how could you be a traitor? You were my most trusted aide, who will fill your spot now, huh?” Palton glared at Strana with eyes filled with hatred and anger.

 

“You are mad, Palton you absolute fool. I only wanted to help our nation, you do nothing but harm it.” Strana said this while small tears started to drip down his face while looking at Palton with pity.

 

“Harming the nation?,A fool? You should hear yourself. I have only gotten rid of all the traitors and liars, I have never harmed the nation if anything I have rid this nation of. filth” Palton was even angrier now after hearing what Strana had said.

“Choose your weapon, Strana, I don’t have all day for a treacherous scum like you” Palton said this with no remorse in his voice, his voice was now only filled with anger.

 

Strana walked over to the weapon rack and picked up an iron sword and shield ‘the best offense is defense as they always say...’  

 

Strana walked over to the opposite side of the courtyard from palton and readied his weapon. He put up his shield and raised his sword in anticipation for the fight that was about to happen. 

 

Strana got into his battle stance that he had learned from his master and was watching Paltons movements 

 

Palton got into his battle stance as well he put his right foot in front and put his left foot behind,he placed his right sword in front and he put his left sword slightly behind him.

 

Palton dashed forward towards Strana,Palton slashed down with both his right sword and left sword.

 

Strana was pushed back by the force of the two swords colliding against his shield,He tried to counter attack but Palton continued to skillfully and swiftly slash at Strana.

 

“Is this what you wanted Strana? Did you want to face the might of ‘the mad king’ so badly that you would betray me”. Palton slashed both his swords in a quick and precise first he would slash downwards to stagger the opponent then he would slash left and right with his swords repeatedly to break the opponents stance.

 

“No sire...I only wished to help you and this land but after all these years I have seen that there is no hope for you” Strana had to constantly adjust his shield to block Palton’s swift strikes.

 

Palton finally managed to cut into Strana’s shoulder however the wound was not deep enough to stop Strana from holding his shield or sword.

 

‘I knew he was strong but I didn’t think he would be this strong...I haven't even managed to get a single sword strike in,I have to do something if I even want to have a chance at winning’ 

 

Strana swiftly and skillfully jumped forward and slashed at Palton with his iron sword,Palton parrierd this with his left sword and then counter attacked with his own strike.

 

Palton’s strike hit Strana’s shield and shattered it into pieces,Strana now only had his sharp iron sword however he did not lose the determination of his eyes instead this only made him even more determined to win.

 

“Huff puff huff puff” Strana was now breathing heavily from the constant onslaught of strikes from his former friend however Palton showed no sign of fatigue at all in fact he looked better then when he had first started.

 

‘I’m going to lose,I'm going to die,’ these thoughts were swirling around Strana’s head but those thoughts soon disappeared as soon as Palton resumed his constant barrage of attacks.

 

“Ahaha Strana look at you,After only 8 minutes of this duel you already seem to be out of breath” Palton started to swiftly slash diagonally now with both of his swords.

 

Strana gripped his iron sword the hardest he could and tried his best to parry the attacks of Palton,Strana’s hands were now bleeding from the force, swiftness and precision of Palton’s strikes 

 

Although Strana’s hands were shaking and bleeding from the constant barrage Strana continued to hold firm with his sword.

 

‘No I won’t die here I will not succumb to this monster’’ Strana finally saw an opportunity to parry and so he parried Palton’s strike then stabbed his sword deep into Palton’s thigh. 

 

“ARGHHHHH” screams of pain and agony could be heard from Palton as Strana’s sword decided to stay inside his calf.

 

“Y-you how dare you harm your king,you filthy traitor you will burn for an eternity” As Palton said these words he swung his sword down onto Strana’s chest.

 

However no scream came out of Strana’s mouth instead a look of satisfaction that finally he had harmed the monster that had killed his family. The monster that had killed hundreds of thousands of people during his reign.

 

“Heh...heh...finally you're hurt…” Strana said this as he fell to the ground his sword still deeply wedged into Palton’s thigh

 

Palton looked at Strana with a face of anguish,’how could this traitor dare harm me,how could the person I trusted most betray me’. These thoughts circulated within Palton’s mind as he began to pull the iron sword from his thigh.

 

“AGHH” Palton screamed in pain as he withdrew the sword from his thigh,his fresh blood still on it.

 

‘I don’t want to die...I need to finish off the mad king...that was my goal...I need to live…’ Strana has these last thoughts before Palton stabbed him in the stomach with both of his swords.

 

‘Cough cough blur’ Strana started coughing up blood soon after Palton had stabbed him. “Goodbye Strana my old friend…” Palton said these words as Strana stopped breathing.

 

“Alex get over here” Palton shouted soon after Strana had passed away.”M-my liege what happened to you...your leg its…” Alex started to stutter at the sight of the injured Palton.

 

Palton the person who could easily overpower 10 C+ ranked adventures was injured by this finance manager of the kingdom. 

 

“Look Alex just get me a damn potion alright,one of those high tier ones.” Palton said this as he looked Alex in the eyes.

 

‘How did Strana injure my liege,what blackmagic did he use to harm him…’Alex was absent mindedly staring at Palton’s injured leg.

 

“Alex! High grade healing potion now!”. Palton shouted this at Alex as he could see that Alex did not hear him the first time.

 

“Yes my liege!” Alex regained his composure and dashed away into the palace to find a high grade potion for Palton.

 

‘I can’t believe I let my feelings get the better of me this time...I should have acted more rationally’ Palton stared at Strana’s lifeless corpse as he thought these things over in his head.

 

The reason that Palton had been injured by Strana was because he let his guard down for a second,he could not deal with losing another trusted friend.

 

After 7 minutes Alex finally returned with a high grade potion that would heal Palton’s wounded leg in an instant. 

 

“Huff puff here huff puff you go my huff puff liege.” Alex was now breathing heavily as if he had run a marathon to find this high grade potion,although the heavy iron armour he was wearing wouldn't help him.

 

Alex handed the potion to Palton and soon after Palton had downed the whole potion. “Ughh did they always taste this bad” 10 seconds later Paltons skin started to heal at an unprecedented pace,First a scab was quickly formed and after the scab had disappeared and instead his milky white skin had replaced it.

 

Potions are categorized into 4 different tiers. The first tier potion allows one to heal any small bruise or wound that one had incurred.The second tier potion would allow one to heal a moderate wound that one had acquired and would also mitigate the pain of a larger wound but would not heal it. A 3rd tier potion would allow one to heal a large gaping wound that they had acquired although it tasted rather bitter. The last tier potion would allow one to regrow body parts however most people think that these potions are just a myth since they rarely ever appear.

 

The potion that Palton had just drunk was a tier 3 potion, a rare and expensive item that not many people are able to obtain.

 

“Knight, we must dispose of this traitor's body,you understand what must be done right?” Palton said this in a rather angry tone.

 

“Yes my liege I do understand what must be done to this traitor’s body” Alex proceeded to pick up Strana’s dead corpse and slung it over his shoulder.

 

“Should the body be burnt as well my liege?” Alex said this in a curious tone he was curious about if Palton’s former best friend should be burnt or if he should be made an example of.

 

Palton glared at Alex and said these words he still could not get past the fact that his best friend who he had known for over a decade would betray him.

 

“No, do not burn him, instead make an example out of him,show everyone what happens when you betray me” Palton said this in a rather regretful tone.

 

Alex walked out of the courtyard leaving only Palton to himself “Why did he betray me…” palton whispered this to himself.

 

………………………………………………………………………………………………..

 

12 hours had passed since Strana had died,and Palton had called for a gathering near the river Ze. Many people knew what this meant.

 

“The king must be trying to make an example of someone again” A random stranger in the crowd said to his friends in a regretful tone.

 

“This is the first time in almost a decade since the king himself has called for a gathering at the Ze river.”

 

The king had only called a meeting near the river Ze once before and that time was to make an example of a close friend of the king who had been conspiring with others to murder the king.

 

“I feel sorry for the poor fool who decided to try and betray the king” Another random stranger had said in the crowd.

 

There were numerous murmurs within the crowd but everybody went quiet as soon as they saw the king himself.

 

“Hello loyal citizens of Agnis I am here today to make an announcement” Palton said this in a loud but deep tone so as to gain the attention of the crowd.

 

“Another traitor has been found within our ranks and today I am here to make an example of him and to show you what happens to traitors” Palton said this in a rather angry tone now this caused all the citizens to look with worry. 

 

Palton pointed to a body that had just been thrown in front of the crowd “This is the traitor right here,my most trusted advis-. Oh sorry I mean my formerly most trusted advisor and head of court finance Hon Strana” Palton shouted these words with bitterness and hatred towards Strana.

 

There were now numerous wounds on Strana that were not there before this was to give the effect that he had been tortured.

 

“Betraying me means betraying the country and I cannot allow anyone to harm our country” Palton continued his speech for a further 5 minutes before he ordered one of his guards to place Strana’s body onto an old rickety raft. 

 

“Now as a message to you all if I catch any citizen trying to plot or betray this nation I shall have them executed,Don’t be like Strana be better than a dirty traitor like him.”

 

After Palton said this the guard that had placed Strana onto the raft set the raft down the river.

 

Strana’s body then started to float down the river  and soon it was no longer visible.

 

…………………………………………………………………………………………………..

After thoughts: This took a hell of a long time to write but i'm proud of all that I have written.